Hysterectomy | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/hysterectomy
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Women's lives put at risk in India by private healthcare providershttp://www.theguardian.com/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2013/feb/07/india-healthcare
Private hospitals are subjecting women to unnecessary surgery for financial gain, highlighting urgent need for health reform<p>Profoundly shocking stories are coming out of India about the exploitation of poor, ill-educated or illiterate women at the hands of doctors in private hospitals. Thousands are being given hysterectomies and caesareans that they do not need by doctors and hospitals that can make substantial sums of money out of the operations. They leave women in pain, infirm, unable to work to earn a living and in horrendous debt.</p><p>Indian women earning just enough to feed themselves and their families cannot go to government clinics because they are too few and far between. The private healthcare market has swept all before it. In 1949, the private sector provided 8% of India's healthcare facilities. Now, with the unfettered growth permitted by the unquestioning worship of market forces, it accounts for 93% of hospitals and 85% of doctors. </p><p>I went to get medication and have a check-up. Because the government hospitals are far away, I went to a private clinic. They didn't check me, they didn't give me any medication, but they gave me an injection and performed an operation. Even though I only had a tummy ache, they took my uterus out. I still have the same stomach pain I had before. I can't work, I can't lift heavy things. Being a poor farmer, I don't have any money, so I had to borrow money. I have not even been able to pay the interest.</p><p>I said I didn't want an operation performed on me, but they said I had to have one and they charged me. We are only villagers who farm, but I managed to borrow some money from here and there. But being a farmer now I can't work, I can't lift anything heavy or bend too low, I don't feel well enough to work. I only finished off paying my debts two months ago from my first child who is now nine years old.</p><p>For private doctors who do a normal delivery, what will they get? Only 5,000 or 6,000 rupees. But whenever they perform a caesarean, they charge 18, 20,000, and they will add a bed charge, a consultation charge – with all these included, it's about 30,000. Most of the women having a caesarean face problems financially. They have to sell their assets, or borrow money.</p><p>Subjecting women to unethical and unnecessary hysterectomies or Caesarean sections for financial gain is a violation of human rights and most awful form of gender-based violence. The mass hysterectomies by private clinics in Dausa is a wicked act, but such malpractice is happening in other areas as well.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2013/feb/07/india-healthcare">Continue reading...</a>Global developmentIndiaHealthcare industryHealth policyWomenCaesareansHysterectomyThu, 07 Feb 2013 17:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2013/feb/07/india-healthcareAmit Dave/ReutersIndian women gather around a well to draw drinking water near Vakaria lake, west of the western city of Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/ReutersAmit Dave/ReutersIndian women gather around a well to draw drinking water near Vakaria lake, west of the western city of Ahmedabad. Photograph: Amit Dave/ReutersSarah Boseley2013-02-07T17:00:00ZSexual healing: Pamela Stephenson Connollyhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/03/women.familyandrelationships
<p><strong>I am 57 and had a full hysterectomy three years ago. Even when highly aroused it is now taking me a long time to orgasm, and then only by manual or oral stimulation. I can no longer orgasm during intercourse. My clitoris has become so small that it is impossible to locate visually, though I can still feel where it is. Internet research suggests that a &quot;shrinking clitoris&quot; may be a post-menopausal phenomenon caused by an absence of testosterone - I'm quite unhappy about this and I've never heard of it happening to other women. Is it reversible, and what can I do? </strong></p><p>Few women talk about it, but many experience sexual problems after a hysterectomy. Unfortunately, the &quot;nerve-sparing&quot; operation is not always performed. Even without nerve damage, hormonal changes almost certainly play a role in creating your symptoms. Ask a physician exactly what your physiological situation may be and what treatment would improve your orgasmic response. Ask your doctor about hormone replacement treatment, and say you want optimal sexual functioning and to avoid genital atrophy. Be persistent. While most doctors have received training in recognising the vascular cause of erectile problems for men, relatively few have much experience in treating female orgasmic problems, so it would probably be advisable to see a sexual-medicine specialist. In the meantime, continue to try to have the best sexual experiences you can manage. Sex operates on a &quot;use it or lose it&quot; basis.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/03/women.familyandrelationships">Continue reading...</a>WomenLife and styleRelationshipsHysterectomySexWed, 02 Apr 2008 23:09:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/03/women.familyandrelationshipsPamela Stephenson Connolly2008-04-02T23:09:42ZWhose life is it anyway?http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2008/jan/22/whoselifeisitanyway
Would the mother who wanted a hysterectomy for her disabled daughter feel better able to cope with her looming puberty if she had more support? That's the view of some bloggers, writes Sara Gaines<p>Disability activists have hailed <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jan/19/nhs.healthandwellbeing">doctors' decision not to perform a hysterectomy</a> on a teenage girl with cerebral palsy despite pleas by her mother, who said it would improve her quality of life.</p><p></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2008/jan/22/whoselifeisitanyway">Continue reading...</a>DisabilitySocietyHysterectomyTue, 22 Jan 2008 10:44:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/joepublic/2008/jan/22/whoselifeisitanywaySara Gaines2008-01-22T10:44:22ZHospital refuses plea for hysterectomy on cerebral palsy girlhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/jan/19/nhs.healthandwellbeing
<p>The decision by a hospital in Essex not to carry out a hysterectomy on a 15-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was welcomed yesterday by charities supporting people with disabilities.</p><p>The case of Katie Thorpe, from Billericay, who is a wheelchair user, has raised fundamental issues of medical care and patients' rights even though it has not been tested in court.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/jan/19/nhs.healthandwellbeing">Continue reading...</a>NHSHealth & wellbeingDisabilitySocietyLife and styleHysterectomySat, 19 Jan 2008 23:55:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/jan/19/nhs.healthandwellbeingOwen Bowcott2008-01-19T23:55:00ZLucy Mangan: When normal rules don't applyhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/20/weekend.lucymangan
<p>I hope that by the time you read this, Alison Thorpe's 15-year-old daughter Katie will be on her way to being granted the hysterectomy her mother wants her to have. Katie has severe cerebral palsy and a mental age of three months and her mother wants her to avoid the discomfort and confusion menstruation would bring. The case is currently in the hands of NHS lawyers, who will weigh up the benefits to Katie against the potential damage to human and reproductive rights among disabled people.</p><p>Several years ago, I was pretty well immersed in what you might call &quot;the disabled world&quot;. I spent half my week working as a volunteer at a disabled school, and I was going out with the father (Dave) of one of the children (Paul). I learned a lot in the way of wheelchair and catheter-based practicalities, but what remains is the knowledge that unless you have witnessed the ramifications of severe disability day in, day out, you cannot appreciate how inapplicable normal standards, normal judgments, normal social niceties are and how compelling the need for new definitions of them becomes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/20/weekend.lucymangan">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleHysterectomySat, 20 Oct 2007 22:58:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/20/weekend.lucymanganLucy Mangan2007-10-20T22:58:40Z'Of course I thought about putting her in a home. Sometimes I still do'http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/13/medicineandhealth.lifeandhealth
What drove Alison Thorpe to seek a hysterectomy for her 15-year-old? Decca Aitkenhead reports<p>Katie looks more or less like any pretty teenage girl, with pert breasts, bright blue eyes and a blush of spots. If she closes her mouth, so her tongue doesn't protrude, when she smiles her whole face seems to radiate, with an almost supernatural glow.</p><p>But Katie is stuck at six months old, with all the urgent random impulses and needs of a baby, but no prospect of ever outgrowing them.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/13/medicineandhealth.lifeandhealth">Continue reading...</a>SocietyHealthLife and styleDisabilitySocial careUK newsHysterectomyFri, 12 Oct 2007 23:23:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/13/medicineandhealth.lifeandhealthDecca Aitkenhead2007-10-12T23:23:24ZLetters: Medical procedures and the rights of people with disabilitieshttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/12/socialcare.comment
<p>My daughter also suffers from cerebral palsy and, like Katie, is unable to move or talk and has almost no understanding of the world around her (Mother defends hysterectomy for disabled daughter, October 8). My daughter is only two but the decision taken by Alison, clearly a caring mother to Katie, is one we will be thinking about in years to come. Decisions about the rights and wrongs of this procedure are definitely not black and white, and I am concerned that this is how the media - and indeed many of the charities that should be supporting Alison and Katie - have portrayed this story.</p><p>My daughter has undergone two operations - one to insert a feeding tube and one to prevent reflux. Neither operation was essential for her - she could be fed by naso-gastric tube and suffer from reflux for the rest of her life. But clearly her comfort levels were enhanced by these operations and no questions were asked about these (common) procedures being performed.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/12/socialcare.comment">Continue reading...</a>Social careSocietyHealthHysterectomyFri, 12 Oct 2007 08:47:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/12/socialcare.commentGuardian Staff2007-10-12T08:47:08ZPreethi Manuel says parents don't always know what is best for their disabled childrenhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/09/disability.g2
<p>Alison Thorpe from Essex is requesting a hysterectomy for her disabled daughter Katie, 15, so that the teenager is not distressed when she starts her periods. My daughter Zahrah, 20, who also has cerebral palsy, is similar to Katie, especially as she too doesn't talk, but communicates non-verbally. But when Zahrah came of age, we celebrated with a special meal welcoming her into womanhood - not major surgery.</p><p>Thorpe obviously sees her daughter's menstruation as a threat to Katie's comfort and dignity. But as a loving mother, surely she could find a less drastic solution? What about pain relief? My daughter loves lavender massage.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/09/disability.g2">Continue reading...</a>DisabilityHysterectomyTue, 09 Oct 2007 08:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/oct/09/disability.g2Preethi Manuel2007-10-09T08:02:00ZMother defends hysterectomy for disabled daughterhttp://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/08/medicineandhealth.uknews
<b>&#183;</b> Campaigners say surgery raises ethical issues<br>
<b>&#183;</b> Removal of womb 'in best interests' of girl, 15<p>Alison Thorpe says the operation is in the best interests of her daughter, Katie, to spare her the monthly discomfort of menstruating. But the medical consent application being prepared on behalf of the 15-year-old from Billericay, Essex, has already proved controversial.</p><p>A similar case in the US this year provoked an international outcry when a disabled patient - known as Ashley X - had a hysterectomy to stop menstruation and had her breast buds surgically removed.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/08/medicineandhealth.uknews">Continue reading...</a>HealthUK newsHysterectomyMon, 08 Oct 2007 07:45:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/08/medicineandhealth.uknewsOwen Bowcott2007-10-08T07:45:15ZProlapse of judgment?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/mar/05/prolapseofjudgment
Camilla Parker Bowles' hysterectomy at a private London hospital points the spotlight at an operation still too often performed for the wrong reason.<p>Camilla Parker Bowles is <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/monarchy/story/0,,2026820,00.html">having</a> a hysterectomy today at the King Edward VII hospital. Full marks for choice of venue. It's one of London's swankiest hospitals. A stone's throw from the dinky shops of Marylebone High Street and within spitting distance of Langan's bistro and other overpriced eateries.</p><p>Dame Judy Dench had her knee <a href="http://www.londonnet.co.uk/entertainment/2007/Feb/4890_20070214.php">done</a> only last week, and my own dear mother-in-law talked Bupa into funding her hip replacement there. A quietly spoken, discreet doorman sits at the front desk, a uniformed porter helps you in with your bags, and when you ring up to check how your loved one is, a human being picks up the phone. So far, so non NHS.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/mar/05/prolapseofjudgment">Continue reading...</a>MonarchyHealth & wellbeingHealthLife and styleHysterectomyMon, 05 Mar 2007 15:45:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/mar/05/prolapseofjudgmentAnn Robinson2007-03-05T15:45:00ZCamilla to have hysterectomyhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/mar/05/monarchy
<p>Camilla, 59, arrived at the exclusive King Edward VII hospital last night.</p><p>The duchess returned to the UK a few days ago after a 10-day tour of the Gulf with the Prince of Wales and a further day in Banjaluka, Bosnia, with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards to mark St David's Day.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/mar/05/monarchy">Continue reading...</a>UK newsMonarchyHysterectomyCamilla, Duchess of CornwallMon, 05 Mar 2007 12:48:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/mar/05/monarchyPress Association2007-03-05T12:48:58ZZoe Williams: A duchess confesseshttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/14/comment.media
Camilla Parker Bowles's revelation that she is to have a hysterectomy lays bare our craven nosiness<p>A rather shaming half-answer is hinted at on the CNN website, which quotes a spokesperson saying, &quot;this is a routine, scheduled operation, and the Duchess is not suffering from cancer&quot;. Our nosiness, in other words, has reached such craven levels that, just to allay suspicion that she's about to die, it is easier for Parker Bowles to divulge her entire medical records. It's not easy to go into hospital as a famous person: in your 20s, everyone assumes you're having your breasts done; in your 30s and 40s, it must be fertility treatment; after that it must be terminal, unless you're a geezer, in which case you must be having your septum reconstructed after years of cocaine abuse. You can see why - some poor schmuck has been waiting outside that healthcare establishment for 12 hours, just to photograph you coming out of it. Who'll buy a picture of a recovering cruciate ligament?</p><p>Nevertheless, this is indicative of a new era within the palace. Undeniably, a taboo has been broken, and a major one: medical taboos are society's most tenacious, and have a very clear hierarchy. Any given male condition will be more taboo than the equivalent female one, because men are more reticent about their health. Beyond that, conspiracies of silence proceed along two vectors, which are the seriousness of the condition and the proximity of the condition to a sexual or scatological function.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/14/comment.media">Continue reading...</a>MediaMonarchyUK newsHysterectomyCamilla, Duchess of CornwallWed, 14 Feb 2007 00:08:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/14/comment.mediaZoe Williams2007-02-14T00:08:33ZUK news in briefhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/13/uknews4.mainsection
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/13/uknews4.mainsection">Continue reading...</a>UK newsHysterectomyTue, 13 Feb 2007 00:31:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/13/uknews4.mainsectionGuardian Staff2007-02-13T00:31:32ZConsultant denies misconducthttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/15/health.healthandwellbeing
<p>A patient died in her hospital bed the day after what was an &quot;ill-judged&quot; hysterectomy performed by a consultant gynaecologist, a panel of the General Medical Council heard yesterday.</p><p>Christine McGowan, 52, from Worksop in Nottinghamshire, probably died of coronary arrhythmia, a disturbed heart rhythm, the GMC was told. Her husband Francis said his wife had been &quot;frightened&quot; to have the operation and at one point decided against, but changed her mind owing to pain from fibroids in her womb. Dr May Mammo, who performed the surgery, denies misconduct.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/15/health.healthandwellbeing">Continue reading...</a>UK newsHealthHealth & wellbeingSocietyLife and styleHysterectomyMon, 14 Aug 2006 23:05:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/15/health.healthandwellbeingAlexi Mostrous2006-08-14T23:05:00ZHysterectomy inquiry reveals 25-year scandal of silencehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/01/owenbowcott.mainsection
<p>The findings of an investigation into abnormal maternity unit practices at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda triggered calls for fundamental reforms of hospital procedures in the republic.</p><p>Mary Harney, who is both deputy prime minister and minister for health and children, said: &quot;This is a damning report and it is clear from the findings that many lessons need to be learned and changes made to ensure that such events do not happen again in Irish hospitals. [We need to ensure] that consultants work in teams with clear clinical leaders who will ensure that individual clinical practice is in line with best practice.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/01/owenbowcott.mainsection">Continue reading...</a>World newsHysterectomyWed, 01 Mar 2006 00:01:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/01/owenbowcott.mainsectionOwen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent2006-03-01T00:01:18ZJaq Bayles: life after my hysterectomyhttp://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/jan/08/weekend7.weekend2
Jaq Bayles had always known she didn't want children - but nothing had prepared her for how she would feel after having a hysterectomy...<p>Then there was the consent form, with its casual mention that the operation carried a risk of death. But nowhere on my list was the question: &quot;How will I feel about never being able to give birth?&quot; I have never wanted children, so when the consultant raised the issue, I dismissed it out of hand. True, I did experience a fleeting suspicion that, knowing my contrary nature, once the option was taken away, I could find myself developing a maternal instinct, but 40 years of certainty seemed a good barometer.</p><p>However, a year on from the surgery, my attitude to my fertility has undergone a radical change. For the first time, I find myself wondering what it must feel like to create life; to carry for nine months a living, growing creature that shares your genes, that is a product of a primeval need to reproduce, that maybe gives your life a different sense of meaning. To know that a part of you might carry on after you have gone. A version of immortality.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/jan/08/weekend7.weekend2">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleHysterectomySat, 08 Jan 2005 00:01:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/jan/08/weekend7.weekend2Jaq Bayles2005-01-08T00:01:50ZWomen left in dark on surgery that saves fertilityhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/oct/17/health.healthandwellbeing
Revolutionary womb operation rules out need for hysterectomy<p>A revolutionary treatment for fibroids, benign growths in the muscle of the womb, allows young women to avoid hysterectomies. </p><p>The procedure, called uterine fibroid embolisation (UFE), is now offered at 10 centres in Britain, but the great majority of patients who have serious problems arising from fibroids still have hysterectomies without being told of the alternative. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/oct/17/health.healthandwellbeing">Continue reading...</a>UK newsHealthHealth & wellbeingSocietyLife and styleHysterectomyFertility problemsSun, 17 Oct 2004 00:48:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/oct/17/health.healthandwellbeingJo Revill, health editor2004-10-17T00:48:57ZDoctors aim to end womb op painhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/09/health.healthandwellbeing
<p>Thousands of women are undergoing unnecessary hysterectomies, leading health advisers have warned. They say that a new, simpler technique - which can be carried out in outpatient clinics - could in many cases replace the operation.</p><p>The procedure would save the NHS &pound;30 million a year, according to the government's health rationing body, Nice (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence), but it could also transform the lives of women who suffer from menorrhagia - heavy menstrual bleeding. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/09/health.healthandwellbeing">Continue reading...</a>UK newsHealthHealth & wellbeingSocietyLife and styleHysterectomySat, 08 May 2004 23:56:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/09/health.healthandwellbeingRobin McKie, science editor2004-05-08T23:56:00ZHeavy period sufferers offered hysterectomy alternativehttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/apr/28/health.medicineandhealth2
<p>New medical techniques that could save thousands of women the pain and misery of a hysterectomy were recommended today by health watchdogs. </p><p>Women suffering from heavy periods should be offered the option of microwave endometrial ablation - sometimes referred to as the three-minute hysterectomy - according to guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice). </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/apr/28/health.medicineandhealth2">Continue reading...</a>HealthSocietyLife and styleHealth & wellbeingUK newsHysterectomyWed, 28 Apr 2004 11:08:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/apr/28/health.medicineandhealth2Press Association2004-04-28T11:08:00ZThree-minute hysterectomy declared safehttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/aug/28/sciencenews.medicineandhealth
<p>The so-called &quot;three-minute hysterectomy&quot; was officially declared safe for patients yesterday, raising the possibility that the high numbers of women who have their entire wombs removed because of menstrual problems could now fall. </p><p>Two techniques which strip out the endometrium, the lining of the womb, were both found to be safe by the national institute for clinical excellence (Nice), although it has not yet recommended their general use in the NHS. A further study is now being undertaken to decide whether the techniques are cost effective. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/aug/28/sciencenews.medicineandhealth">Continue reading...</a>HealthSocietyLife and styleScienceUK newsHysterectomyThu, 28 Aug 2003 13:13:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/aug/28/sciencenews.medicineandhealthSarah Boseley, health editor2003-08-28T13:13:00Z